Sauk Valley’s College Promise – From Pancakes to Rural Revitalization

A pancake breakfast foundation can be a wonderful asset to a community college, capable of supporting meaningful student scholarships, building good will in the community, and providing valuable marketing for the college. Rarely, however, will a pancake breakfast foundation raise sufficient funds to endow a Promise Program that can transform the economic development of a college’s region. Sauk Valley Community College’s Impact Program began in 2021 with a two-community pilot and launched throughout the college’s six counties in 2022.

Community members are energized by the power of the Impact Program’s mission for different reasons. Some focus on every child in the Sauk Valley being able to access higher education; others focus on the community service that will teach youth about their community and the value of volunteerism while providing organizations with a legion of volunteers; and others focus on the economic development revitalization that comes with having a large home-grown pool of skilled college graduates available for employment. Regardless of the focus, the Sauk Valley community embraces the impact of this rural community college promise program.

Read the full policy brief for how SVCC leaders galvanized the community to begin a program that will have an impact on the region for generations to come.

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